


The Scars Underneath

by effected



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Finds Out About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Protective Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28064004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/effected/pseuds/effected
Summary: "I’ve been told that you don’t know the importance of the people around you.”“What the hell are you talking about?”--Or in which Merlin and Arthur are forced to relive every scar the other has gotten since meeting one another.Aka a scar and magic reveal fic
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 304





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was mainly inspired by a youtube comment I saw about what Arthur and Merlin would have said to each other if Arthur found out about Merlin's magic earlier. 
> 
> And I love scar reveal fics and thought I would write one.

Yet another sorcerer wanted to harm Arthur. Merlin was really starting to get tired of saving him from threat after threat and never getting anything in return. Of course he didn’t do it for that, or else Merlin would have left ages ago. But a “thanks” here and there would be nice. But what does he get in return? Arthur yelling at him for spending too much time in the tavern and piling on more chores. Merlin is really wondering how much more he could take of it.

* * *

They were out hunting. Arthur decided in the morning that they were going to go hunting, not caring whether or not Merlin had other things to do, which, spoiler, he did. He had a long list of things to do for both Gaius and Arthur. At least he could pick some herbs Gaius needed while Arthur was killing whatever helpless animal was next.

The worst part: none of the other knights were able to come, so it was just Arthur and Merlin, meaning Merlin had to have an active conversation with Arthur the entire time. Don’t get him wrong, Merlin cared deeply for Arthur, even if he sometimes questioned why, but he could really get on his nerves sometimes. Recently, more often than not. Although, Merlin would never say anything. He didn’t want to actually offend his Royal Highness.

They had been out hunting for a while; Merlin was able to collect a majority of the herbs Gaius needed without actively seeking them out. He barely recognized where they were anymore. Merlin was getting really tired and stopped paying attention. He closed his eyes and started to doze off a little. He registered that Arthur was talking to him, but couldn’t quite care enough to know what he was saying.

A few minutes went by when Merlin felt a rush of magic sweep through him. That perked him right up. “Arthur! Stop!”

“What is it now, Merlin?” Arthur replied, sounding annoyed, but he stopped nonetheless.

“Someone’s here.” As if on cue, a man jumped out in front of them.

“Hello, Emyrs,” was all Merlin heard as he and Arthur were put to sleep with a spell.

* * *

They woke up in what looked like the arena Gwaine and Arthur were forced to fight in when they were captured by Jarl. Lovely bloke.

“Ah, you are finally awake. Took you long enough,” Merlin and Arthur snapped their heads to the noise and saw the man from before. Arthur reached for his sword before realizing it wasn’t there.

“What do you want with us?” Arthur asked, getting right to the point.

“Well, I’ve been told that you don’t know the importance of the people around you.” The man looked at Merlin, and Merlin was dreading what was coming next.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Arthur asked in response.

“You’ll find out very soon. You’re about to relive the events that caused the scars you both have received since meeting each other. Get ready to be enlightened, Arthur Pendragon.” And with that, a white flash brought them to a new place.

* * *

_It started off with Arthur in a cave. He was reaching for a small, yellow flower. Beneath him were giant spiders climbing up the wall to reach him. A blue orb of light appeared above Arthur, apparently trying to lead him out. He finally reached the flower and started to climb up the wall, following the strange orb, scratching his arm on a rock in the process, something he wouldn’t even realize until later._

“You really did all that for me?” Merlin asked.

“You would do the same.”

* * *

_The next memory that played was of Aulfric and Merlin. They were trying to get Arthur to go with them to what Merlin knew was for a sacrifice. Merlin was pleading with Arthur to get him to stop, but he was enchanted. Aulfric blasted Merlin with his staff before leaving with Arthur._

“You told me you had to knock me out that time!”

“Yeah, you were actually enchanted and I had to save your sorry arse.”

* * *

_After that played one of Merlin’s least favorite moments: when Arthur was bitten by the questing beast. There wasn’t really a question of how it happened; they both remembered the day better than they liked to admit._

“Feels weird seeing it happen to me.”

“Still hate seeing it happen to you.”

* * *

_Merlin knew this was coming next._

_He was at the Isle of Blessed, Gaius appearing dead by the table. Nimueh was there as well. “With my help, Arthur will become king.”_

_“I will make Arthur king. But you will never see that day. Ástríce!”_

_Nimueh caught the attack easily. “Your childish tricks are useless against me, Merlin. I am a priestess of the Old Religion. Forbærne! You, too, are a creature of the Old Religion. You should join me.”_

_“You think I would join forces with such a selfish and cruel magic? Never.”_

_“So be it. Ácwele!” A fireball was shot and hit Merlin square in the chest, knocking him down._

“Arthur,” Merlin looked over at him and pleaded. Arthur wouldn’t even meet his gaze.

* * *

_It cut to Merlin facing Cedric while he was possessed by Sigan. “He does not deserve your loyalty. He treats you like a slave.”_

_“That's not true.”_

_“He cast you aside without a moment's thought.”_

_“That doesn't matter.”_

_“But it must hurt so much to be so put upon, so overlooked, when all the while you have such power.”_

_“That's the way it has to be.”_

_“Does it? You're young, Merlin. Look inside yourself. You have yet to discover your true power. I can help you. Think, Merlin. To have the world appreciate your greatness. To have Arthur know you for what you are.”_

_“That can never be.”_

_“It can, if you join me. Together we can rule over this land. Arthur will tremble at your voice, he will kneel at your feet.”_

_“I don't want that.”_

_“You'd rather be a servant?”_

_“Better to serve a good man than to rule with an evil one.”_

_“So be it. If you will not join me, I will become you and your power will be harnessed to my will.”_

_“Ic þín sáwol hér beléac, abide þæt ic þé álíese!”_   
_Merlin fell to the ground. His head began to jerk and his eyes opened and turned black._

Neither Merlin nor Arthur said anything. But Arthur questioned why Merlin wouldn’t take Cedric up on his offer. After all, most of what he said was true.

* * *

Merlin and Arthur continued on through the memories, facing things like Arthur during the jousting tournament with the bounty hunter, Lady Catrina trapping Merlin behind the rock wall, Merlin getting his first “battle wound” when they fought the knights of Medhir, Arthur getting hurt while searching for Balinor, and so much more.

They both took notice of how many more Merlin had than Arthur. From the serket’s sting to Morgana putting the Fomorroh in his neck, Merlin easily had triple the amount of scars than Arthur did.

By the end, Arthur didn’t know what to think. Merlin, his closest friend for over 10 years, was a sorcerer. He had magic. The very thing that Arthur spent his entire life hating, Merlin had. At the same time, he had seen all that Merlin had done for him. Merlin had risked his life so many times for Arthur and never once sought credit. He never said anything the countless times he came back from stopping yet another threat and all he got in return were more chores from Arthur for being gone.

Really, Arthur didn’t even care that Merlin had magic. He didn’t have the hatred of it that his father did. During his reign, socerers had stopped being actively sought out and druids were allowed into the kingdom. He cared that Merlin had lied all this time. That Merlin never trusted him enough.

“Arthur,” Merlin started. “I-”

“Don’t. You’ve lied to me all this time.”

“Arthur, please.”

“What did you think I was going to do? Kill you? I thought you of all people would trust me enough.”

“Arthur, it’s not like that.”

“Then what is it, Merlin? Because you told Lancelot within days of meeting him but didn’t tell me after 10 years?”

“What did you expect me to do? What other choice did I have?”

“You could have told me.”

“No, Arthur, I couldn’t have. I never could have whilst your father was still alive, and after he died, you trusted magic even less.”

“I’ve stopped hunting sorcerers! Druids are allowed back in Camelot!” There was a pause. “You could have told me.”

“Really? When? When the Great Dragon attacked Camelot? When your father died and you blamed the loss of both parents on magic? Maybe when Gwen was enchanted with magic? Ooh, or maybe when the Disir, creatures of magic, almost killed Mordred? You know Arthur, it’s not as easy as you make it sound. I wanted to tell you every second of every day. But I was fearing for my life! Do you not understand that?”

“Merlin-”

“No! Instead I had to grieve silently for my father, who I met days before he died, and I couldn’t even tell anyone! You killed the love of my life and had no idea! Having to save your sorry arse again and again and then being blamed for being in the tavern. You have no idea what I’ve been through the past ten years. Scars don’t tell the entire story.”

Arthur was speechless. He had no idea what to do. Merlin had never, never, done or said anything like this before. He guessed it made sense; ten years of rage boiled up and ready to burst at any second. Neither of them even realized it had started raining, even though it was the middle of summer.

Not knowing what to do, Arthur walked up to Merlin and did something he had only done once before: he hugged him. Only then did he notice that Merlin had been silently crying. Once Arthur hugged him, however, he started sobbing into Arthur’s shoulder.

“Well looks like my work here is done.” Arthur and Merlin let go of each other and Merlin stepped in front of Arthur protectively.

“What was the point of all this?” Merlin asked.

“Now don’t be like that, Emrys.” _You know why I did this._ He said the last part to Merlin’s head.

_You’re a druid?_

_How else would I know your true name?_

_You’d be surprised. You never answered my question: why did you do all this?_

_The Albion we were dreaming of was taking too long to come. You needed a little push to reveal your true nature to your other half._

_And this was the best way to do that?_

“What is happening right now?” Arthur said aloud. Right, he was still there. All Arthur had witnessed was Merlin and the other man seemingly having a stare off.

“Nothing,” Merlin responded. “We can go.”

“Just like that?”

“Yeah, he’s not a threat.”

Goodbye, Emrys. It was an honor to meet you.

“Let’s go.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering, this takes places about a year after the Battle of Camlann, where Merlin killed Mordred before he was able to wound Arthur, so Arthur never found out about Merlin's magic. Morgana is still dead however.

“I assume you have a lot of questions,” Merlin said to Arthur. They had left the man and set up camp for the night. They both knew they weren’t going to sleep anytime soon. 

“Why?”

“Why what? Why hide it from you? Because I’m pretty sure I made that clear.” Arthur had never seen Merlin lash out and act this way, but it was well deserved. 

“Why would you do it all? I mean, living under the constant threat of execution for something that you used multiple times to save my life, before we were even friends. You could have easily taken Cedric up on his offer and your life would be all the better for it.”

Merlin sighed. “It’s my destiny, Arthur.”

“What?”

“It has been since the dawn of time. The once and future king would need help from the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the earth to unite the lands of Albion and better the world for everyone.” He paused. “You’re the once and future king, and you never would have gotten there without my help, if the scars are anything to prove it.”

“And you are-”

“The most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the earth, yes. I’m better known as Emrys, which is what the druids call me.”

“So you’ve done all of this for destiny?”

“Well that and I believe in the kingdom you will build; the kingdom you are building.”

“Merlin, I don’t know what to say.”

“Neither do I. As much as I wished for the day when I finally revealed myself, I never expected it to actually come.”

“Why don’t you start by telling me all the times you saved my life, unbeknownst to me?”

“There’s too many of them for that. I don’t even remember half of them.”

“Gods, Merlin. You never once sought credit.”

“That’s not why I do it.”

Another pause. “Then why don’t we start with the scars.”

“Sure. Which one?”

\---

Hours passed of Merlin and Arthur talking; mainly Merlin telling his stories and Arthur chiming in with the occasional “I knew that couldn’t have happened” or “It all makes sense now.” Before they knew it, the sun had risen. 

There were several times throughout the night when Arthur or Merlin had started to cry, or both of them. While Arthur was angry at first for Merlin lying to him all this time, he quickly understood why Merlin felt the need to do so. He, instead, decided to look at all Merlin had done for him in return. 

From small feats like knocking down all the tree branches during fights with branches to defeating Morgana’s saxons at the Battle of Camlann, Arthur didn’t know how he could ever repay his dearest friend. 

“Merlin, thank you.”

“Am I going deaf or crazy? Because it sounds like you just said ‘thank you.’”

“I did. And I mean it. I know it probably doesn’t count much at this point, but after all these years of you doing everything in your power to protect me, and it obviously worked because I’m still here, I thank you. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“You don’t have to. It’s not why I ever did it.”

“I just feel like I owe you this debt that can never be repaid.”

“Arthur, stop. I’m not asking for anything. I do it to see the future that you and I will build.” They both smiled. “But, you could make it a little easier to protect you by not constantly putting yourself in danger?”

Arthur laughed. It was a sound Merlin had enjoyed. He felt like he hadn’t heard it in forever. The whole night they spent talking was a somber one. Then Merlin paused and turned his head, looking for a small sound he heard. 

“Merlin?” As if on cue, a large group of bandits rushed out of the trees, swords swinging. Arthur instinctively pulled out his sword, ready to fight, but a split second later Merlin had his hands out in front of him and the bandits were flown back. The impact killed most of them, but the ones it didn’t ran away and didn’t look back.

Arthur threw his sword into the ground, amazed by the strength of magic his friend possessed. Sure, he had seen his fair share of sorcerers, but powerful ones like him were rare. In fact, the only truly strong ones he had seen were Morgana, Morgause, and the Dolma, although the last one didn’t count because it was Merlin. “You know, Merlin, you sure don’t look the part.”

“What? Should I go around wearing a robe and a pointy hat?”

\---

After they made it back to Camelot, Arthur immediately started working on magic reforms. He never had the hatred for magic his father did, and knew the people didn’t either; they were just too afraid to speak up about it. 

With Merlin’s help, of course, they started to slowly place into affects to allow magic back into the kingdom. Druids were allowed to use magic once again and sorcerers were not killed unless they had done something malicious with their magic. 

A couple months went by with no problem, and Arthur officially appointed Merlin as Court Warlock. The Knights of the Round Table all had very different reactions to it. 

Leon was suspicious at first, caring for the well-being of the king and the kingdom, but he knew Merlin as long as Arthur did, and knew he would never do anything to hurt Camelot. Gwaine was hurt that he didn’t tell them, but quickly got over it once Merlin showed that he could refill his glass with beer as often as he wanted. Gwen was sweet about it; she didn’t have room for much hate in her heart. Percival, from not growing up in Camelot, didn’t care much if he had magic or not. After all, it didn’t change who he was. Gaius, of course, already knew.

Thankfully, the dynamics of their group didn’t change much. They still went on patrols and hunts and continued on with the same banter as before. It was a little bit easier to let Merlin take care of the bandits though; the knights all appreciated not having to fight as often. Merlin enjoyed not having to constantly do chores for Arthur as he now had other duties to do. Arthur had ended up with George, which he hated, but Merlin was still there by his side for the majority of the day. 

The kingdom took to the changes well. There were a few revolts in the lower town at first, but they were quickly taken care of. 

Years went by of the kingdom finally being at peace, and Albion’s time had finally come. Other surrounding kingdoms even took to Camelot’s example, and started allowing magic back into their kingdoms as well. 

Merlin just wished that he knew the name of the man who revealed his scars in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit shorter than the first one but I got a lot of requests for a part two so here it is! I hope you all enjoyed it!  
> I also had fun putting in some little easter eggs of quotes from Merlin episodes ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Comment if you're interested in a part 2! (No promises though)


End file.
